Brake issue
 

I'm hoping some folks can help me put in diagnosing a brake issue.

Here is the sequence of events that took place. After about 3 days letting my car sit at my relatives for Turkey Day, I filled up my car with gas to head home. The on ramp was right next to the filling station. Got up to speed limit and was cruising at 80mph. I immediately started feeling the car shaking and felt like it was the rear wheel. At first, I thought it was a flat and pulled over. The rear drivers wheel was smoking. I pulled it off right away to prevent a fire and let it cool down. The lug nuts were very hot on both rear wheels, more so on the driver's side. The rotors were also blue. I was only a few miles from Toyota and had a roll-back take my car there.

After the inspection, I was informed that the e-brake shoes were cooked. Somehow the e-brake was engaged. I know it wasn't engaged when I pulled over, because my son set the brake when I took off the wheel.

I have been meaning to install my Stop-Tech rotors, pads, fluid, and stainless brake lines as soon as I've had a day off. So, I took the parts to Toyota to install. All they had to do was order the e-brake shoes. That was the only OEM part.

The next day, I pick up my car and smelled like fluid burning when I got on the highway. I thought it could be the protective coating on the parts. I drove a little farther and it got worse. When I pulled over to check tings out, this time it is the front driver's wheel that I cold tell was over heating, especially the lug nuts. I took the car back to the dealer after trying to bed in the pads. It helped with the burning smell and every few miles, I pulled over to check the temp. The wheels were cooler, especially on that wheel.

When I got back to the dealer, Toyota test drove the car and all rotors where about 110-degrees and except for that one rotor which was about 154-degrees. At first, they thought it was the retaining clip that wasn't allowing the pad to sit properly. After putting the OEM back on, the rotor was only about 20-degrees warming than the others. They flushed the lines again and still the same thing. The can take off the caliper and the wheel spins freely. When it is put back together it binds.

At the end of the day, we decided to sleep on it and I told them I'd check with the forum. All of us are stumped.

Tomorrow we will replace the stainless line with the OEM one, and flush and check. If that isn't the problem, I'm wondering if it could be the ABS sensor? I seriously doubt it is the caliper as I didn't have any issues up front.

Has anyone had any similar issues? Suggestions?

Yes. Stuck calipers are a known problem. Did it snow a lot over the time it was parked?

No snow. Texas... never got below 45F.

The wheel binds with the caliper on when the car hasn't been started? Did they push the pistons back in before reinstalling it? It sounds like some sort of brake line issue to me if the fluid can't be pushed out of the caliper.

Is "putting oem back on" is referring to the oem rotor or just the clips? If not, check the width on both front rotors. If one is out of specification, it might be too thick for the caliper/pad. Also, check the pads' thickness as well.

If you only have problems after being on the road, you could try driving in diagnostic/pedal-dance mode, or even remove the ABS fuse, to see if the VSC/Ediff/ABS is going haywire. If you still have issues, your problem is more likely mechanical. If everything is fine in those modes then you probably have an electronic fault.

Wow. That's new to me. I immediately started thinking ABS control unit. I assume that the techs didn't capture any fault codes.

Try pulling the ABS fuse and see if the issue continues.

edit: this is what happens when I lazily browse while watching tv. @Spuds, if I read correctly, he developed this issue before replacing the calipers.

if i am reading correctly, the rears are no longer having issues and the overheating is occurring on a front wheel where the new pads/rotors were installed? and it was still overheating when the OEM rotor was reinstalled (but the new pad still in place) -- right?

it's possible that the new pads are just that tiny bit thicker and making contact with the rotor? when i had installed new [non-oem] pads, i had the same thing happen on my car. the OE pads have two shims, so i had installed both w/ the new pads-- i went back and removed one shim and that was enough to provide just that bit of additional clearance. no issues since.

edit: actually thinking about it, i removed both backing shims.

Great advice. Thank you very much.

Yes, the wheel binds with the caliper on and the car not started. I asked about the pistons and they said they never came out. That doesn't mean they didn't come out to the point it was obvious.

I too thought about the brake line having a manufacturer defect. Perhaps it is somewhat restricting the fluid.

They did put on the OEM clip back on and it improved although the wheel still felt restrictive when driven. The temp for that rotor was 20-degrees more than the rest after a couple miles with the old clip.

I'll have them check the thickness of the pad too. Perhaps they can swap the pad with the other wheel and see if the issue follows.

By brother-in-law mentioned the ABS system. That's the next step if none of the other resolutions work.

Good to know.

Both rear brakes are good now. And yes, it is only one of the front wheels overheating. We haven't put the OEM rotor back on yet. Also, I'm not against having new OEM brake pads put on. One reason I went with new rotors was the weight saving. The pads were just part of the package.

You shouldn’t have to put the oe rotors back on— may just need to remove the backing shims to do the trick :)

Actually we are just putting the OEM brake line on that one caliper to test performance. Toyota opens soon and I'm passing on all this info. Thanks everyone!

Toyota says the caliper was damaged. I'll check out the classifieds and post on the regional forum as a WTB. This is the front drivers that I need. And it's back ordered. Maybe Friday or 2-3 weeks. Not ready for BBK yet or the expense.

what's damaged that can't be rebuilt? That's incredibly impressive if it's true.

No mention of inspecting, cleaning and regreasing slide pins is odd.

Turns out it was a stoptech pads cut at an angle causing the problem. I bought from FT86SF in May but just now opened. Oh well, probably cant get a replacement this late.

It's somewhat common for our calipers to cease after it gets overcooked. It happened to me as well. Front passenger caliper ceased on me, so I've swap (both side) to WRX 4 piston calipers. They use stock 86/BRZ rotors, so literally you need is calipers (& few pins & clips) and brake pads. No cutting or any extra effort. Just all stock parts, so if you like you can buy em at the Subaru dealership or other places. It's not an "UPGRADE" or anything, but worth looking into.

Pic for reference.
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2018...337f460337.jpg
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2018...080689ad3c.jpg

Oh FYI, it won't clear OEM 17's. You need minimum of +45 offset wheels*. Summer I'm running 18x8 +35 Enkei Raijin and winter 17x8 +45 Enkei VR5.

*some +45 offset wheels won't clear WRX calipers, so make sure to double check.